Dubai

[KillerGremlin]

Total, epic failure.

[Typhoid]

Care to elaborate?

[Professor S]

How did they get into this mess? Don't they have billions in oil revenue?

Maybe they should have rethought the whole "lets build some islands" thing...

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by Professor S

How did they get into this mess? Don't they have billions in oil revenue?

Maybe they should have rethought the whole "lets build some islands" thing...

I'm not sure what they were thinking. There is a reason this type of massive construction doesn't go on anywhere in the world. It's not so much that there is a "creativity drought" in the architecture or engineering world, it's that there is a lack of funds or a realization that constructing a tower requires tons of funding.

I'm sure it is much more complicated and in-depth than that, but the bottom line is Dubai would be better nicknamed the "desert mirage" instead of the "desert paradise."

[ZebraRampage]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

I'm not sure what they were thinking. There is a reason this type of massive construction doesn't go on anywhere in the world. It's not so much that there is a "creativity drought" in the architecture or engineering world, it's that there is a lack of funds or a realization that constructing a tower requires tons of funding.

I'm sure it is much more complicated and in-depth than that, but the bottom line is Dubai would be better nicknamed the "desert mirage" instead of the "desert paradise."

That's exactly right. Whenever there's a project under construction, it is never built to be the best it can be, because that's not possible with a limited amount of funding. Dubai should have built this city up more gradually. And yes, it is pretty much slave labor. The wages are terrible, and the amount of workers is immense.


Just a side note, here are some really neat pictures of Burj Dubai currently, and the construction surrounding it.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...06899&page=403

[Typhoid]

But in case you aren't, a nation shouldn't have a religion.

And Genocides shouldn't take place - but the world still turns.



Strangler pretty much nailed exactly what I was getting at.

[Bond]

Originally Posted by Professor S

How did they get into this mess? Don't they have billions in oil revenue?

Maybe they should have rethought the whole "lets build some islands" thing...

Dubai actually has very little oil, if I recall correctly, which is why they went the tourist route. The other emirates of the United Arab Emirates derive their wealth from oil, and I believe they are going to back Dubai's debt.

[KillerGremlin]

The solution is simple! Legalize drinking, smoking, sexing, and gambling!

[Typhoid]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

The solution is simple! Legalize drinking, smoking, sexing, and gambling!

Asking a nation to give up it's religious beliefs for debt is asinine.

[Angrist]

Somebody mind what's going on?

[KillerGremlin]

Dubai, the "desert paradise:"







The Dubai Government or city or whatever they have going on over there has managed to sink into a 60-billion dollar debt (thanks global economy!), and they cannot pay creditors until May of 2010 at the earliest. Their primary sources of revenue are oil and tourism, I assume the city is fucked. Talk about poor money management. Not to mention tourism as a primary source of revenue? You can't even wear a bikini to the beach in Dubai, you'll get your appendages chopped off by pissed off Muslims.

The city is a joke. It was built by slave labor. It is a financial nightmare. The government/area doesn't make money. It's going to be a ghost town in 100 years.

Even construction on the Burj Dubai has been stunted due to the financial meltdown.

[manasecret]

Must have been nice while it lasted.

I'm not sure on the details and who is giving money to whom, but from NPR I've heard some snippets that the Dubai government is going to bail out the banks, which has supposedly brought their economy back just slightly from the brink of collapse.